A tradition started years ago, this year’s JA Community Night has grown to become a larger community event with the involvement of JANM and other local Japanese American nonprofit organizations.
It’s a great night to be in Chavez Ravine, watch the Dodgers versus the Rockies, get a little JA culture, and be with friends. It’s all topped off with a post-game fireworks show.
This year’s ticket sales benefit a variety of JA organizations. Choose JANM when purchasing!
Tickets are first-come, first-served. Go to www.goforbroke.org/dodgers.asp to buy your tickets before June 24 – to ensure receipt of your tickets in a timely way!
Questions? Contact Charlien Church at cchurch@janm.org (213.830.5676) or Alison Wong at awong@janm.org (213.830.5657) in JANM Membership.
Look! Evan has a new wooden harmonica and cardboard guitar!
Evan makes noise. Um, I mean, Evan makes music.
Don’t you want to be noisy… um, I mean, musical just like Evan?
Good news! You can! Come on down to the Museum this Saturday for our March Target Free Family Saturday. (March 9th). We’re ready to celebrate music with fun performances and lots of opportunities to make some noise! On the crafty side of things we’ll be making harmonicas and stringed instruments just like Evan’s.
There will be a drum circle for you to join and performances by the Turath Ensemble, who will perform traditional Middle Eastern music and drumming. A family day favorite, TAIKOPROJECT will perform as well. We’re all set for a JANM jam so come join us.
On top of all this musical excitement, we are also so excited to welcome our friend Sonya from the Arab American National Museum (AANM) in Dearborn, Michigan. One of our current exhibitions, Patriots and Peacemakers: Arab Americans in Service to ourCountrycomes to us from AANM. Sonya will be leading tours of the exhibition throughout the day with a special talk at 1:30.
Hope to see you!
Special thanks to Evan for such a dynamic demonstration of what fun we will have on Saturday. He deserves an award for being a good sport.
Patriots & Peacemakers: Arab Americans in Service to Our Country opens at JANM this Saturday on February 16 and will be on view through April 14, 2013. Fittingly, we will also be commemorating our annual Community Day of Remembrance here that day too.
Created by the Arab American National Museum (AANM), the exhibition tells true stories of heroism and self-sacrifice that affirm the important role Arab Americans have played in our country throughout its history.
Patriots & Peacemakers highlights three specific areas of service: the U.S. Armed Forces, diplomatic service and the Peace Corps. Personal narratives highlight Arab American men and women of different national and religious backgrounds. The exhibition also asks visitors to consider how commitment to service impacts them in their daily lives.
In addition to the exhibition from AANM, there are a few extra components. We are screening 9066 to 9/11: America’s Concentration Camps, Then…and Now?, a documentary produced by our Watase Media Arts Center in 2004. The film focuses on the parallels between the post-September 11 treatment of Arab Americans and Muslims in this country with treatment of Japanese Americans after the start of World War II.
AANM also created a special banner dedicating this presentation in Los Angeles to Senator Daniel K. Inouye who passed away at the end of last year “…In sincere appreciation for his contributions to the exhibition’s development, his support for the Arab American National Museum and the Arab American community, and his decades of exemplary service to our country.”
Elizabeth Barrett Sullivan, Curator of Exhibits at AANM, came at the beginning of the month to work with JANM staff to install the exhibition in our upstairs gallery. One of the special perks of being a staff or volunteer at JANM is getting to go on walkthroughs of our new exhibitions with curators and artists.
You can check out photos from the special Patriots & Peacemakers walkthrough with Elizabeth on our Facebook page. Here are a few photos:
Elizabeth Barrett Sullivan, AANM Curator of Exhibits, giving a walkthrough of "Patriots & Peacemakers" for JANM staff & volunteers.Arab Americans are descendants of people who lived in the Arab World which consists of 22 countries in North Africa and West Asia."Patriots & Peacemakers" features personal stories of Arab Americans through history.Stories are divided into 3 sections: military service, diplomatic service, and Peace Corps service.
Possessed (2012), Audrey Kawasaki, oil, acrylic, and graphite on wood panel
2013 is the Year of the Snake!
When I saw this image, I thought it would make for a cool Lunar New Year blog post, plus be a way to also promote our Supernatural exhibition that opened at JANM yesterday.
Supernatural: The Art of Audrey Kawasaki, Edwin Ushiro, and Timothy Teruo Watters
Through March 17, 2013
Traditions are an integral part of every community. Some of these come from superstitions that our ancestors carried with them.
Supernatural features the work of Audrey Kawasaki, Edwin Ushiro, and Timothy Teruo Watters—artists who have explored some of these otherworldly concepts, illustrating how traditional ideas have evolved and been adapted over time.
Year of the Snake t-shirt by Donna Ikkanda - $22.00
Supernatural: The Art of Audrey Kawasaki, Edwin Ushiro, and Timothy Teruo Watters opens this Saturday!
The exhibition features the work of Audrey Kawasaki, Edwin Ushiro, and Timothy Teruo Watters—artists who have explored some of these otherworldly concepts, illustrating how traditional ideas have evolved and been adapted over time.
The exhibition will be up from February 9 – March 17, 2013. That’s just 5 weeks to come check it out before it closes!
We are celebrating the opening with two FREE events!
TARGET FREE FAMILY SATURDAY Art from the Heart
11AM – 4PM FREE ALL DAY!
Celebrate Valentine’s Day and the opening of Supernatural exhibition! Show your love by making art for yourself and others. Participate in art workshops with Timothy Watters and Edwin Ushiro!
Supernatural Opening Party
6:30PM – 9PM FREE!
Get mystical with JANM! Celebrate the opening of Supernatural with the artists and some spooky fun—wandering ghosts, a medium, and special treats!
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Learn more about the exhibition and the artists on our Discover Nikkei website. We’ll be adding an interview with Timothy Watters next week:
Thanks to everyone who joined us to celebrate the New Year & the Year of the Snake!
Over 2,800 came throughout the day for our 2013 Oshogatsu Family Festival on Sunday, January 6th to enjoy free crafts, performances & food.
Thanks so much to our volunteer photographers who captured all the fun—Caroline Jung, Russell Kitagawa, Daryl Kobayashi, Richard Murakami, and Tsuneo Takasugi.
Here’s a selection of the many, many photos they took to document the day!
(Click on the images to see the full photos)
Multigenerational family fun at Oshogatsu Family Festival
Having fun with zodiac animal & snake crafts
Cute girl & her paper snake
Decorating her animal zodiac wreath
A family pose proudly with their paper snakes
A very focused little girl…coloring is serious business!
Families having fun together with crafts
It was great to see so many extended families celebrating the New Year at JANM!
The Omikuji ladies with fortunes & wishes for the New Year!
Selecting a lucky wish from the box
Ever resourceful, our Christmas tree became our Omikuji Wish Tree for the day!
Ruthie Kitagawa & her assistants taught visitors how to fold origami snakes
Learning how to fold origami snakes
Lots of smiling faces to be seen all day!
Zaru soba noodles with Kidding Around the Kitchen. Yum!
Chowing down on zaru soba noodles!
Varied reactions from these girls, but the zaru soba is not only healthy, but a lucky dish too!
Shaun Ichiyanagi, the “Candyman,” wowed the crowds as he made snake & other sculpture candy.
Lots of lucky kids were able to win candy sculptures to take home
A family shows off their candy sculptures
JANM Volunteer Bob Moriguchi with Shaun the Candyman and his reward for being his assistant for the day!
Wonder what was so surprising? Was he amazed by Shaun the Candyman?
A boy assists Sonoko Sakai by fanning the sushi rice for the rice tasting sponsored by Common Grains & JRE
Young ones taking a break from the crafts and activities with some play time in the Toddler Room
Face painting was another popular activity
Some opted to get their animals painted on their arms
Sandee Hashimoto took a break from volunteering to pose with her family
Hal Keimi is a long-time JANM volunteer who leads interactive taiko demonstrations for school tours throughout the year. He led 2 taiko sessions at Oshogatsu Family Festival
Hands-on taiko lessons!
Playing the taiko with a little help
Watching little kids have fun with taiko
A future taiko master?
Kodama Taiko did two Mochitsuki performances & demonstrations
Kodama Taiko’s very energetic & entertaining Mochitsuki performance
Kids got to try pounding mochi too!
Pounding mochi with the kine (wooden mallet)
Yoisho!
Reptacular Animals were on hand with a reptile petting zoo!
This boy doesn’t look too sure about the snake
There were also assorted lizards on hand
Tortoises too!
Sonoko Sakai with Suzy Nakamura, one of the Onigiri Design Contest winners
For more Oshogatsu Family Festival photos, including from the Onigiri Design Contest, check out our photo album on our JANM Facebook page >>
Scene from JANM’s 2008 National Conference in Denver. Photo by Tracy Kumono.
We are so excited that it is finally 2013… because our fourth national conference is just 6 months away! We hope that you and your family will join us.
Register before January 31 to receive the early bird rate for JANM’s 2013 National Conference, “Speaking Up! Democracy, Justice, and Dignity.” If you register now, you will not only save money, but there are still spaces available for the trips to Bainbridge Island (bus tour) and/or the International District (bus tour and/or walking tour).
Giant Robot Biennale 3 closed this past Sunday but not without some cool happenings. As part of what we called Giant Robot Artists’ Entourage, some of the GRB3 artists came to teach their techniques and share a bit about their art making process.
Eric Nakamura, Albert Reyes, Saelee Oh, and Rob Sato, were super-generous with their creativity and led several great art making workshops and discussions. On Saturday we concluded the GR Entourage program with a watercolor workshop by Rob Sato.
Rob Sato demonstrating a watercolor masking technique
In addition to the public workshops, a major part of Giant Robot Artists’ Entourage was a series of workshops for high school students. The result was a display of work that was produced during the workshops AND as an added bonus, last Friday a group of students from our neighbors at Mendez Learning Center came by for a visit! This great group of people included two of the Entourage participants who helped lead their teachers and fellow students through the GRB3 exhibition and the display of their work. It was the perfect way to continue the learning and conversation.
Big thanks to all the artists who shared with us and to the students and teachers from Mendez Learning Center and The Los Angeles School of Global Studies. We had a great time with you all!
Support for the Giant Robot Entourage program is provided by the National Endowment of the Arts.
Eric Nakamura and students viewing the custom figures in the Project Remix showAfter going through the galleries with Eric, students had a chance to customize their own Big Boss Robot.
Looking at Saelee Oh's work in the galleries with SaeleeSaelee Oh demonstrating her cutout process
Albert Reyes teaching an image transfer technique
Students in the galleries discuss Ako Castuera's work.
Display of student artwork created during workshops with Eric Nakamura, Saelee Oh, and Albert Reyes.
Many thanks to Richard Murakami and Gary Ono for taking photographs to document the workshops!
The traveling exhibition, Fighting For Democracy: Who is the “We” in “We, the People”? opens at the Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte, North Carolina this Saturday!
The Levine will be the 10th site where we have travelled this exhibition that presents the diverse perspectives of seven individuals whose lives and communities were forever changed by World War II.
The exhibition will be on display from January 19 through July 14, 2013. Go check it out this Sunday at the Levine Museum’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Celebration 2013. Free admission, activities, & performances.
There are just 10 days left to come see (or see again!) the Giant Robot Biennale 3 exhibition before it closes on Sunday, January 20!
Come celebrate another successful Biennale at the GRB3 Closing Party on Thursday, January 17 from 6pm – 10pm (THAT’S NEXT WEEK!) with Giant Robot, JANM’s Young Professionals Network, and many of the artists from the exhibition.
For information about the exhibition, artist bios, images, videos, and more, visit janm.org/grb3.
JANM Young Professionals Network
The Young Professionals Network (YPN) furthers the mission of the Museum through philanthropic and social activities by connecting people in their 20s, 30s and 40s with a diverse and professional network that supports the growth of the Japanese American community. It provides young professionals with opportunities for community building, volunteering, fundraising, outreach and engagement. The YPN is governed by the New Leadership Advisory Council (NLAC) of the Japanese American National Museum.
